The Sprout

Botley’s Front Garden Competition is this month

The Newsletter for North Hinksey & Botley

Issue 158 June 2021

The Sprout

The Newsletter for North Hinksey & Botley

Directors: Janet Bartlam, Judi Bolder, John Clements,

Michael Cockman, Ag MacKeith, Robin Palmer

Editor

Ag MacKeith

South View House, Old Botley, OX2 0JR Tel: 724452 Editor@TheSprout.org.uk

Advertising Manager

Michael Cockman

50, St Paul's Crescent OX2 9AG Te l : 07766 317691 Adverts@TheSprout.org.uk

Deliveries

Bhee Bellew and Robin Cox

15 Seacourt Road, OX2 9LD Tel: 790648 Deliveries@TheSprout.org.uk

Copy Date: Copy by 15th of month preceding publication. Earlier submission is

welcome. Later contributions may have to be held over to the next issue.

Advertisements: If you have print-ready advertisements in the correct format the

last day for booking advertising is the 10th of the month preceding publication; in all

other circumstances more advance notice will be needed. For details about exact

sizes, quality requirements, advice on text and help with production, please contact

the Advertising Manager.

Advertising rates:

½ page: 1 issue £56; 3 issues £135; 5 issues £182; 10 issues; £322

¼ page: 1 issue £28; 3 issues £67.50; 5 issues £91; 10 issues; £161

1/8 page: 1 issue £14; 3 issues £33.75; 5 issues £45.50; 10 issues; £80.50

Subscriptions: If you live outside North Hinksey Parish you can still receive The

Sprout on a regular basis. Just take out a postal subscription – only £12 per annum,

delivered to your door. Contact: Carol Kramer 01865 243002.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information printed in this

newsletter, mistakes may happen. The Editor and Team apologize unreservedly for

any errors that may occur and will do their best to correct them. This publication is not

a vehicle of the parish council, and parish councillors working with the Sprout do so in

a personal capacity. Opinions expressed are the opinions of the individual

contributors.

All concerned in the production and delivery of The Sprout are unpaid volunteers.

The Sprout is printed by Dataprint Ltd, and published by North

Hinksey Parish Publications Ltd, (a company limited by

guarantee) Registration No. 05609535.

It can also be found online at BotleyHinksey.org.uk

The Sprout

Issue 158, June 2021

Contents

3 Letters to the Editor

7 Parish Council for 2021

11 Memory Club and ‘Heimat’

13 Greening Botley

19 Botley Girls Football

21 Planning Applications

23 Wild World Heroes

25 More About Sewage

26 Botley School

29 Miles Gomme

33 Botley in Bloom

35 Patients’ Group

36 Randoms

39 Local organizations

From the Editor

What has happened since last month? The Neighbourhood Plan

has been voted in, for a start. And the County Council will now be

run by a more climate-aware coalition, so things may be looking up

for the planet. There are details of the reconfigured Parish Council

on page 7, and of plans for greening Botley on page 13. There’s

also an update on sewage pollution in the Seacourt Stream (p24),

with ideas for lessening the problem. The Flood Alleviation

Scheme, now inviting fresh questions, is raised on our Letters

pages (p3) and Randoms (p35) has details of the forthcoming

Parish Poll, and the new arrangements at the Tap Social and the

Foodhub. For the kids, Girls football gets a boost (p19), and the

Library is running its summer reading challenge (p23). How’s your

front garden coming along after all this rain? Have you booked

your visit from the Botley in Bloom judges yet? An email entry to

editor@thesprout.org.uk will do it (p33). Lots going on then, and

you can read all about it in the June Sprout.

Ag MacKeith

Letters to the Editor

The Roman Bridge

I thought that I should respond to Ann Ford's enquiry (Sprout, December

2020) about the Willow Walk bridge in case nobody else does. The

bridge was built in 1877–8 as part of an ambitious plan for a Hinksey

Building Estate to be built above North Hinksey and linked to Oxford by

way of a completely new carriage road (Willow Walk) branching off the

ancient Ferry Hinksey causeway. The contractor died in 1878 and,

although a timber road bridge was built across the Bulstake Stream in

the early 1880s, no further progress was made on the estate. Willow

Walk remained a private road for decades until a footbridge was built in

1923 on the site of the decayed timber road bridge and the route

became the footpath it is today. The stone bridge is sometimes called

the Roman Bridge because the supposed Roman road from Frilford

through North Hinksey to North Oxford might have crossed the river

near here, but the bridge is undoubtedly Victorian! Similarly, Willow

Walk is sometimes said to have been the work of John Ruskin's

undergraduates who 'improved' the village road through North Hinksey

in 1874, but they certainly didn't engage in serious engineering work

and bridge building. I wrote up the story of the Hinksey Building Estate

for Oxoniensia in 1990 – you can find it here:

https://www.oxoniensia.org/volumes/1990/graham.pdf

Malcolm Graham

Fields we love

Do you have favourite photographs of the Hinksey Fields and the

Seacourt Stream, from the Botley Road through the Fields and down to

the Abingdon Road? Landscape, wildlife, flora, people and animals?

A local group, including the Oxford photographer and publisher Chris

Andrews, would love to see your pictures with a view to producing a

small colour souvenir of the area as it is now.

The booklet will be distributed free with the Sprout, sponsored by local

people, businesses and the Hinksey and Osney Environment Group.

Please send any images that you would be happy to have reproduced,

from any device, including phones, to chris@cap-ox.com. Though no

fee is available, we hope you might be happy to join in. Please include

your name so they may be credited if used. Images may also appear on

the HOEG website.

Chris Andrews

Concerns about the Flood Scheme

The Environment Agency (EA) have now issued their consultation on

their flood scheme, closing date 31st May.

Local residents, businesses, councillors and community groups need to

ask questions about the scheme, which involves excavating a vast 200-

metre-wide trench through the heart of Oxford’s greenbelt. Should this

go ahead, Oxford will witness the largest environmental catastrophe in

its history. The distinguished Oxford ecologist, Dr Tim King, calculates a

net loss of 160 biodiversity units, not the EA’s miscalculated 40-unit

gain.

The EA propose to transplant approximately one third of the rare MG4

grassland to a new location. Nobody can guarantee that the unique

plant communities will survive this move, because it’s not been done

before.

How will the 4000 planned tree saplings, which take 80 years to grow

into mature trees, compensate for the loss of nearly 4000 mature trees,

three miles of hedgerow and the birds, mammals and insects that de-

pend on them?

While Oxford needs a flood scheme, how can the EA justify a cost of

over £100,000 per house at a cost: benefit ratio calculated by two inde-

pendent Oxford economists of just £2 for every £1 spent?

Why is the Environment Agency not actively pursuing several engineer-

ing alternatives which have been shown to deliver the same or greater

benefits in flood protection, at less cost, and without the environmental

destruction and removal of thousands of tons of spoil necessitated by

the flood channel? How many lorry loads, going along what routes, and

for how long, will that entail?

A flood scheme that protects Oxford residents without destroying its

natural heritage is 100% possible. Nobody wants the delays and costs

of a public enquiry. We urge readers to make their views known.

We can provide further evidence on request.

Chris Sugden, Chair, Ferry Hinksey Trust

Dr Rod Chalk, Hinksey and Osney Environment Group

[They may take comments and questions for a few days after the

closing date. Always worth a try! Ed]

Your Parish Council:

changes for the new Council year

Each May, North Hinksey Parish Council holds its Annual Meeting. This

is when we elect the Chairman and Vice Chairman, and agree the

members and chairmen of the various committees.

After six years as Chairman of the Parish Council, David Kay decided

not to stand again. We thank David and express our deep appreciation

of his hard work, dedication and diligent chairmanship since 2015. His

leadership has steered us through changing times and overseen the

achievement of some of our key objectives, including, most recently, the

referendum and adoption of the North Hinksey Neighbourhood Plan,

which David championed over seven years. We also appreciated his

calm leadership during the unprecedented disruption of COVID-19.

Replacing David as Chairman of the Parish Council is Caroline Potter

(see photo), who has been leading the R&A Committee for some years

and was previously Vice Chairman of the Council. The new Vice

Chairman is Lorna Berrett, and committee

chairmen are:

• Recreation & Amenities (including

Louie Memorial Playing Fields):

Darren Blase

• Planning: Adam Rankin

• Environment & Wellbeing:

Chris Church

• Communications: Lorna Berrett

• Remembrance Day:

Graham Fairclough

There were not enough volunteers to form

an Allotments committee, so currently allotments matters will be dealt

with by the full council. We will discuss how to manage the parish-

owned allotments in the future at the 24th June Parish Council meeting.

Other roles agreed in our Annual Meeting include Parish Council

representatives on various bodies including the Seacourt Hall and Louie

Memorial Pavilion management committees, and local groups on

transport issues. For a full list see the Committees and Councillors

pages on our website.

June’s Parish Council meeting will be in-person, as the emergency

Legislation to allow online meetings during the COVID pandemic

expired on 7th May and has not been extended by the Government.

Some committee meetings in May are currently being planned with

Councillors in person and members of the public joining online. If the

Government’s roadmap is on track, we could be holding in-person

meetings with members of the public present in Seacourt Hall from 24th

June, following whatever Government protocols are in place at that

time.

The Government have opened a call for evidence until 17th June to

understand the experience of local authorities regarding remote

meetings. NHPC held our meetings successfully over Zoom for the past

year, with attendance from members of the public at most meetings and

more than double the usual number of attendees at March’s Annual

Parish Meeting. Many of us feel that hybrid meetings with remote

attendees would be more inclusive for councillors and the public, but

these are not currently legal without a change in legislation. If you would

like to give your views on remote access to future Council meetings,

you can fill in the questionnaire online at:

https://consult.com munities .go v.uk/local-government-stewardship/local-

authority-remote-meetings-call-for-evidence/

We’ve got exciting things ahead of us this year, including designing a

new skate park and taking the next key steps towards a new pavilion.

Everyone is warmly invited to engage with us in this work for the benefit

of our diverse and growing community. Please check our website

(northhinksey-pc.gov.uk/) and follow our Facebook page

(facebo ok .co m /n o rthh ink s ey p c ) for updates on future meetings, as the

situation is subject to last-minute change depending on the national

COVID roadmap.

Cllr Lorna Berrett

We have lift-off!

I am writing this at the end of the first week that the Kennington Memory

Club Day Centre has been in operation again after the Covid-19

closure. It felt very good to be able to open the doors again on May

10th, in a Covid-safe way, to members, old and new.

Hopefully we will be able to welcome more members again to each

session very soon, so more people with a diagnosis of dementia will be

able to benefit from the Day Centre sessions, and more carers will get

respite from their 24/7 responsibilities. We would like to invite potential

members, their families or carers to get in touch with the Club

Organiser, Helen, on 07852 883496, to discuss names going down for

the Club. There is more information on our website:

kenningtonmemoryclub.org.uk

Isobel Birse

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heimat

When does a place you live in become home?

When you have memories that linger on

of comfort, joy, sadness and tragedy;

messy reality, dreaming spires;

permanent gridlock on the Botley Road.

Pompey lose again to the yellow men.

The Ruskin labour aristocracy

rub shoulders with Oxford Uni elites.

St. Margaret’s church at Hinton Waldrist.

I am now “homo oxoniensis”.

Dan Ferrett

(who, like the Hinton Waldrist church, is a

new immigrant to Oxfordshire)

Greening Botley and North Hinksey – next steps:

can you help?

Following the meeting in March on looking after our green spaces,

North Hinksey Parish Council agreed in May to take this further. We are

focussing on three areas:

• ‘A cleaner, greener safer Botley’ – ensuring that our green spaces

are well looked after;

• ‘New uses for local green spaces’ – looking at ideas such as new

food growing areas;

• ‘Making more space for nature’ – action to improve local biodiversity.

Some of this is work for the Parish Council. We will consider the green

spaces which we already manage and find ways to make them more

nature friendly, perhaps with more tree planting and wild flower spaces

around the edges. We will also review our pesticide use with the aim of

cutting back to the minimum necessary. We support the Hedgehog

Street initiative (www.hedgehogstreet.org), and will work with local

people to promote the ‘hedgehog highway’ (see below).

While most of our green spaces are protected, others are under

pressure from new development. We review all new planning

applications, though sadly our powers are limited when it comes to

stopping ones that we think damaging or inappropriate. However we

make a point of looking at ways current planning policies and processes

can promote local biodiversity in and around new developments, and

we will be taking this up with Vale District Council.

But there’s only so much

that we can do on our

own. If we are to make

lasting improvements,

we need your help. We

would like to set up a

Botley Green Spaces

Group (what should we

call it?). In this we can

learn from the work

being done by Cumnor

and Eynsham parishes

who have established a

‘Nature Recovery Network’ (https://www.nature-recovery-network.org/).

We are fortunate in that we already have great groups of volunteers

looking after sites like Hinksey Heights, Raleigh Park (Friends of

Raleigh Park seen planting yellow rattle in the photo), and Hutchcomb

Copse and Fen – we’d like to bring these and all interested people

together to look at ways to make sure we are as effective as possible.

A range of issues came up at the first meeting:

Roadside verges Parts of Botley are fortunate to have wide roads and

grass verges. For some these are useful parking spaces, but other

people view them as green spaces to be looked after. A few have been

sown with wild flowers and protected with stones, etc. We have

contacted Vale officers to discuss if we could ‘adopt a verge’ for suitable

roads. If you and your family would like to be part of this, please get in

touch via Environment@northhinksey-pc.gov.uk.

Local walks and green spaces. Lockdown has seen many more

people out in our green spaces. We could do with an on-line green

spaces map full of

information about each,

linked to local walks,

historical background, etc.

(Picture shows path along

Hutchcomb’s copse)

Perhaps we could

produce a printed poster

of Botley green spaces.

This ‘Parish Map’ could

be a lasting asset for the

Parish and the community

– if you would like to help

make this happen please

get in touch via the email above.

Hedgehogs. We know that there’s a lot of them around the parish, but

more would be better! We have agreed to join ‘Hedgehog Street’ as a

parish and would like to encourage more people in the area to do so.

There’s more at: https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/ The simplest things

that you can do are: leave a small part of your garden to grow up a bit to

provide a place for hedgehogs to sleep during the day; create (by

agreement) a small ground level hole in your garden fence that lets any

hedgehogs travel to adjoining gardens; and put out some water (and

maybe dried cat food) for them to drink and eat.

New uses for local green spaces. There is enthusiasm for new work

to make unused land more productive. Various pieces of land have

been identified e.g. the patch of grass on the corner of Crabtree and

Chestnut roads. In some cases there are questions about the ownership

of uncared-for bits of land. NHPC has agreed a small budget to do ‘land

registry’ searches to identify who owns these areas. If you’ve been

wondering why a patch of land

in your area is neglected and

can’t find out anything about it,

then do get in touch

Leaving wild alone! We also

recognise that we should

identify areas to leave

unmanaged to allow wildlife to

flourish. This works very well at

Hinksey Heights, where fallen

trees are left unless they are a

safety risk. Where areas have

been deliberately left for nature,

do we need a sign to say so?

(e.g. the copse off Toy n b ee C l o se, see photo).

The Oxfordshire ‘Great Big Green Week’ is coming! In September

communities across the UK will

join together for the ‘Great Big

Green Week’. It will be the

biggest event for climate and

nature ever held in the UK. It

takes place just five weeks

before the UN ‘COP26’ Climate

Conference in Glasgow. We

will use it to commit to more action to tackle the crisis we face and also

to celebrate what has been done. Different organisations are already

planning events. What can we do in Botley? What might YOU do?

There’s so much to do, and we need all the help we can get. If you

would like to be involved in any of this, please email:

environment@northhinksey-pc.gov.uk We will be holding an open

meeting in June (date tbc) to work out our next steps.

Chris Church

Botley Girls FC

That’s right, Girls play football too! Botley Boys and Girls FC now have

a Wildcats (girls’ football) group, set up to provide girls aged 5 to 11 with

a safe and fun place to learn about football. It’s non-competitive football

for girls who want to give it a go for the very first time or want to play

with other girls their own age. Most importantly, the Wildcats is all about

having fun, meeting new friends, getting active and boosting confidence

in a friendly sporting arena. Although I stated it was non-competitive,

when the girls are playing it’s quite clearly competitive and each and

every one of them mucks in, all aiming to score goals and impress their

friends (and parents cheering from the side lines).

First formed in October 2019 with eight girls who joined and then

trained strongly through winter,

the group has now grown in size

to twenty-plus girls who train eve-

ry Monday evening from 6pm till

7pm at Fogwell Road Recreation

Ground. Due to the age, size,

and varying abilities of the group,

training starts off in a single large

group. It usually entails a warm

up, followed by some non-football

games, and then a skills session.

The aim of the first part of training

is to build the team, create a

sense of belonging, and teach

the girls basic footballing skills.

From week to week the girls are

then encouraged to develop and

improve on the skills they are

taught.

For the second half of the session the girls separate into teams so that

two football games can be played. This is where the competitiveness

kicks in, with lots of noise, plenty of movement, excitement and even

the occasional tear. And that’s just the parents. The girls always have a

great time and return every week, even when it’s raining and blowing a

gale. It’s wonderful to see the smiles and laughter of all the children,

with the added bonus of developing their skills, plus some fresh air and

exercise.

We are always looking for more girls to join in

the energised fun, so if your girls are interest-

ed then please do make contact. Our email is:

botleygirlsfootball@gmail.com

The Wildcats and BB&G FC are always look-

ing for extra volunteers to assist with training,

coaching, general administration and running

the club in this wonderful community of ours,

so if you would like to help, or know someone

who might be interested in assisting, please

contact via the email above. We are always

looking for coaches and committee members to make sure that this

great club keeps going, and continues to provide a valuable opportunity

for exercise and team spirit for all our youth.

Nick Dunn, Darren Blase

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LOCAL PLANNING APPLICATIONS

P21/V0947/HH

47 Raleigh Park Rd. Single storey

extension.

29 March

TDD: 24 May

P21/V1011/FUL

Variation of

P18/V1886/FUL

(approved )

15 Cumnor Hill. Add balconies to

rear and mono-pitch roof to the

entrance porch.

1 April

Targe t Decision

Date:

27 May

P21/V1018/FUL

32 Lime Rd. Change small HMO) to

a large 7-bed Sui Generis HMO,

with hardstanding & dropped kerb.

2 April

TDD: 28 May

P21/V1013/HH

23 Cumnor Rise Rd. Rear single-

storey extension and front porch.

6 April

TDD: 1 June

P21/V0856/HH

30 Hurst Rise Rd. Convert garage

to include front extension for

shower room & gym. New porch.

16 April

TDD: 11 June

P21/V1161/HH

1 Tilbury Lane. Replace garage/

workshop and external recreation

area with enlarged version.

19 April

TDD: 14 June

P21/V1107/HH

106 Westminster Way. Convert

garage into bedroom and build new

garage.

4 May

TDD: 29 June

WILD WORLD HEROES

wild

about your world by joining the

Summer Reading Challenge at Botley Library!

It starts on 10 July. You’ve got till 11

September to help the Wild World Heroes

save the environment of Wilderville.

Collect stickers and rewards as you

read library books over the summer holidays.

Complete your challenge to win a Wild World Heroes medal,

certificate and a keyring. Under 3s can take part in a mini

challenge with their own special card and stickers. Find out

more at summerreadingchallenge.org.uk. Everyone who finishes

will be entered into an exciting prize draw!

Don’t miss out

More About Sewage

We go on seeing sewage in the Seacourt Stream far too often, although

the Parish Council has now started to take an interest. There’s some

good news to report though. Sprout readers may remember the spill in

July 2016, when so many fish were killed. We showed a photo of

Thames Water’s efforts to aerate the water after the event. It was so

shocking that the Environment Agency brought Thames Water to book

for the spill. TW admitted the offence at High Wycombe Magistrate’s

Court in March this year and the case will go to Aylesbury Crown Court

in the Autumn for sentencing.

If only the likely large fine would stop TW from discharging sewage into

the river every time there’s heavy rainfall! But, sadly, that’s not going to

happen. The law allows such discharges because the alternative could

mean local houses getting sewage coming back up through their toilets

and drains – the last thing anyone wants.

The problem is that the system was designed long ago for far fewer

houses. Rainfall from roofs and roads runs away in the foul water pipes

along with the sewage. We can hardly dismantle the existing system, so

we need to think of ways around it. Every paved front garden adds to

the problem, so we need to make sure the surfaces under our cars

permit drainage. At the same time, if we all collected as much of our

own rainwater as we can, and found ways to use it at home before it

went into the pipes, that would make a real difference.

Is funding available? Well, things are moving! There are Rainwater

Harvesting Grants and Water Capital Grants available for farms and

businesses – as much as £350 per cubic metre for underground storage

tanks and pumps in farmyards, for instance – but no grants as yet for

domestic use.

Isn’t this just the kind of thing that councils committed to fending off the

climate crisis could stimulate? Perhaps now we’ve got parish, district

and county councils all aware of the climate emergency, grants could be

found. A shared effort to install tanks and pipework in our houses to

flush our toilets with rainwater could start the ball rolling. It would be

great to get this going in Botley instead of leaving it to West Oxford.

Personally, I would love the Seacourt Stream to return to the way it was

a few decades ago, when it had a gravel bottom, lots of fish, and

children learned to swim in it. If we wait for Thames Water, it may never

happen. But we could do something ourselves, if we worked together.

What do people think? Ag MacKeith

Finding a Voice at Botley School

At Botley School we like to hear what our children have to say, and this

term pupils have learned to express themselves in many different ways.

Firstly, following the local elections, some of our Year 5 children held

their own election campaigns, supporting issues which are meaningful

to them. Five parties devised their manifestos and during an online live

assembly (via Microsoft TEAMS) they held a hustings where candidates

presented their party’s aims. We heard from:

• the ‘School Trips Party’ who were looking to enrich the curricu-

lum through trips to places outside Botley;

• the ‘Fundraising Five Party’ who proposed holding fun activities

to raise money to support the wider curriculum;

• the ‘More Equipment in School Party’ for computers, play

equipment and much more;

• the ‘Emerald Explorers Party’ – campaigning for more Forest

School sessions for Years 5 and 6;

• and, finally, the ‘Animals in School Party’ – who were asking for

chickens and other animals which the children could help to

care for and learn animal husbandry.

The whole school was invited to vote in the purpose-made ballot box

placed outside the Head’s office! Children debated the issues and cast

their votes for their favourite party on the ‘official’ ballot paper provided.

The count revealed the Animals in School party had carried the day,

with twice as many votes as the next contender.

Year 6 pupils have been practising their public speaking by presenting

live to the school via video – reciting poetry and Shakespeare, to

mention but a small part of their repertoire. We have found ways

around the Covid restrictions so that pupils can still manage to make

their voices heard at whole school assemblies. Children in Year 2 have

been developing drama skills to voice the strength of the giant, Finn

MacCool, as well as increasing vocabulary and empathy through

voicing other characters. We have also trained up two Forest School

Leads, to help children to find a voice in the outdoor environment.

As part of our internal monitoring we have held pupil conferences this

term. Children from all age-groups have discussed every aspect of

school life with senior leaders – how teachers ask questions, behaviour

in school, what it is like being a second language student and other

current topics. The children’s views are then fed back to staff to ensure

that we are listening to them and using their comments for positive

change. As teachers gear up to complete end of year school reports,

the children’s views on what went well helps inform us for next year so

we can do an even better job.

While we have tried to keep things as near to normal as possible during

this challenging year and a bit, we recognise that keeping children

talking and expressing their thoughts has been more important than

ever. We continue to be impressed by their resilience and their

keenness to be heard. The School Council is invaluable in drawing

attention to the ideas and thoughts of the community they represent.

As our oldest children transition to secondary school we have organised

a programme of activities for them to explore their feelings about

moving on. Giving them the chance to air their thoughts, providing help

where necessary, will hopefully see the transition as smooth and as

purposeful as possible. This will involve parents’ voices, too,

completing the circle of support. Listening to children and helping them

to find their voice is an essential part of their education, and one we are

happy to facilitate here at Botley School.

Jo Reid, Headteacher

Miles Gomme at Botley Arts

Botley Arts is truly excited to announce that we are back in action! We

reopene d on Monday, May 17th, with Miles Gomme's dramatic Black

and White representations of New York City. (See following pages.)

This is how he describes himself and his project:

My name is Miles Gomme. I’m an Oxford-based event and portrait

photographer. I’ve professionally covered music, running and social

events, including weddings, as well as portraiture and headshots.

Privately I capture street photography, in a candid documentary style,

showing life in detail and with humour.

For my third exhibition, I'm telling the story of “50 miles around New

York”, through the photos I took, as I walked 50 miles through the city,

over 5 days to celebrate my 50th birthday.

It was my first time to New York, but it had been on my bucket list as a

place to photograph for a long time. Having seen it in so many movies

and heard so many stories about the city, I wanted to see and feel it for

myself. My wife and I walked the streets with my camera always to hand

and gathered images of what we saw over those busy days.

I’d expected noise, dirt and overcrowding but the contrast between the

glitz and glamour and reality of life and poverty was very strong. Times

Square was just too full, but I took an image that captures it perfectly.

The Chrysler building was spectacular, as was the view from the top of

the Empire State building. The Guggenheim Museum was architectural-

ly interesting, as was the Flat Iron quarter. We frequented the cafés on

the side streets, where the locals ate, trying to get a feel of the real life

around us. “This is the Big Apple!”

Each print can be reproduced, but will be limited to a maximum of 10, in

different sizes, with or without a frame as desired. Please contact me for

further details on milesgimages.com, phone me on 07794 717333 or

email me at milesgomme@me.com

St Peter & St Paul's Church is open Monday to Saturday, 10am – 4pm

and 12 – 4pm on Sundays. Entrance is free, and don’t forget to sign

our new Visitors Book!

If you are unable to visit the exhibition in person, do look at our website:

Botleyarts.uk where you will find a selection of Miles Gomme's photo-

graphs, and the work of past exhibitors.

Jennie Hopkins, Chair, Botley Arts

Have you entered yours yet?

BOTLEY IN BLOOM

FRONT&GARDEN&COMPETITION&!

all#across#the#parish#during#June.#!

Sponsored(by(North(Hinksey(Parish(!

Council(and(organized(by(the(Sprout. !

THREE%CLASSES:!

Ø BEST%FRONT%GARDEN!

Ø !BEST%CULTIVATED-WILDLIFE'FRONT'GARDEN!

Ø BEST%USE%OF%VEGETABLES%IN%A%FRONT%GARDEN!

Closing(date!June%18th!

Results'announced'in'July'Sprout!

No#entry#form#needed!

Entry&by&email&to&editor@thesprout.org!

You can enter

ANY FRONT GARDEN

in the parish you think

deserves to be noticed

(ask first!),

including your own.!!

See our Facebook page

Botley and Kennington Patients Participation Group

Emma Teasdale from Healthwatch Oxfordshire joined the Botley Sur-

gery PPG meeting on Tuesday 27th April 2021 to talk about its work.

Healthwatch Oxfordshire is the county’s independent health and social

care watchdog, which works to help shape and improve health and

social care services in the county. It does this by listening to what chil-

dren, young people and adults have to say about local health and social

care services, whether it is praise, criticism, or ideas for improvement.

Healthwatch Oxfordshire then passes on what it hears to service pro-

viders and commissioners and holds them to account on how they use

this feedback.

Emma’s role within Healthwatch Oxfordshire is to provide support to

Patient Participation Groups (PPGs). She does this by organizing

events that bring PPGs together and keeping them informed on how

they can best support their surgeries. Healthwatch Oxfordshire also

runs a series of regular webinars for PPGs. These have recently

focussed on the COVID-19 vaccination rollout programme in Oxford-

shire, social prescribing in the county and, more recently, on recruiting

new PPG members and increasing representation of all patients. Please

take a look at w ww.healthwatchoxfordshire.co.uk/ppgs to find out

more about these webinars and the work of PPGs.

You can get in touch with Healthwatch Oxfordshire by calling 01865

520520 or emailing hello@healthwatchoxfordshire.co.uk

Healthwatch Oxfordshire also has a feedback centre at

www.healthwatchoxfordshire.co.uk/services where people can share

their experiences of using local services – including GP surgeries,

hospitals, pharmacies, dentists, care homes and more.

The next meeting of our local PPG

is by zoom on Tuesday 8th June

from 6–7.30pm. We will be joined

by doctors from the Botley Medical

Centre. The zoom link is here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85296

376510 Meeting ID: 852 9637

6510

Chris Sugden (Secretary)

Randoms

Do you enjoy sewing, crochet, knitting?

I am thinking of starting a group meeting at my house. The idea would

be to share our skills, learn more, enjoy the company, drink coffee and

eat cake. Would need to be during the day. Anyone welcome. If you

want to find out more about the Slow Stitching I do, please check out

https://www.annebrooke .co.uk . Let me know by phone on 07961 900670

or by email at: Cockman.caroline@gmail.com I’d love to hear from you.

Caroline Cockman

Parish Poll on renewing the Scout Hut lease

It’s not surprising people got a bit confused over this request at the

parish council’s Annual Parish Meeting in March. Who knows when one

was last held? If ever. But the law allows 10 parishioners to ask for one,

and ten did. At first, the Vale ruled against holding it, but then they

changed their minds, and they have now decided that it can go ahead

after all. The poll tests the parish’s views on renewing the lease on the

Scout Hut for 20 years, though the result is not binding. Likely date is

June 9th.

National Flower Arranging Day

Yes, there is such a thing! It was on 7th

May, and Ann Dawson, who uses her plot

to grow flowers, decided to mark it with an

arrangement on the allotment gates. The

National Association of Flower Arranging

Societies has clubs country wide, and our

local one is in Cumnor (see Local

Organisations page), where you can

enjoy:

• Workshops

• Demonstrations

• Competitions,

as well as fun and friendship. Thanks,

Ann, for adding sparkle to the day.

Foodhub

Did we mention that the Oxford Foodbank has changed its name? They

got tired of explaining that it wasn’t like other Food Banks, in that people

don’t buy one tin and donate the free one in the box by the supermarket

door. The food that pours into the renamed Foodhub all comes from

overstocked supermarkets and other wholesale suppliers. It has

reached its ‘sell-by’ date, but not necessarily its ‘use-by’ date. This

brilliant Oxford initiative, based in Curtis’s Yard, is going from strength to

strength. We’ll be reporting more fully next month.

Tap Social Movement

Are now open again: Thursdays 5–10pm, Fridays 4–11pm and

Saturdays 2–11pm, with a food vendor/food truck on those evenings.

Still finalizing plans for music and ticketed events earlier in the week.

Organizations: If your organization is not listed here, please send details

to editor@thesprout.org.uk or telephone 724452 for inclusion.

1st Botley Brownies

Girls aged 7–10

Dean Court Community Centre Thur 6–7.30 Jean

Metson, firstbotleybrownies@gmail.com

2nd Botley Brownies

Girls aged 7–10

Rosary Room, Yarnells Hill. Tues 6:15-7:45 Alison

Griffin 2ndbotleybrownies@outlook.com

4th Oxford Scout Group

Beavers, Cub Scouts, Scouts

mail@thefourth.org.uk Website:

http://www.thefourth.org.uk/

15th Oxford Scout Group

Boys and girls welcome

Fridays, Cubs 6.30-8, Scouts 8-9.30, 1 Church Way, Botley

Amy Cusden (Cubs) 07887 654386, Tom Freeman (Scouts)

07837 623768 xvoxfordscouts@yahoo.co.uk

Baby & Toddler Group

Tues/Thurs 9.15–11, SS Peter & Paul Church Hall

Badminton Club

Thurs 7-8pm at Matthew Arnold Sports Hall. Garry

Clark 0777 3559 314 garryclark13@gmail.com

BikeSafe. B4044 community

path campaign

Wants to connect Botley to Eynsham. Meets every 6-8

weeks. Contact via website B4044path.org

Books on Wheels R.V.S.

Free Library Service for housebound Ox. 248142

Botley Boys & Girls F.C.

Football teams from ages 8-16

Jason Barley Ox. 242926 jbarley1@sky.com or Brendan

Byrne 792531 brendan.byrne999@gmail.com

Botley Community Larder

Thursdays, 3.30 to 5.30 at St P&P Church Hall, West

Way, contact us via Facebook or email

botleylarder@gmail.com

Botley Health Walks

Wednesday 9.30am. Contact Briony on Ox 246497

Botley Library

01865 248142. Open till 7 on Friday and 1pm on Sat,

otherwise 9.30 to 5.30 (closed Wednesdays).

Botley Seniors Lunch Club

Alternate Thursdays. Seacourt Hall. Jackie Warner

Ox721386

Botley Singers

Thur 7.30, St Andrew’s Church, Dean Court. Angela

Astley-Penny Ox.242189 angastpen@aol.com

Cumnor Choral Society

Rehearsals Friday 7.45 to 9.45 pm John May 07795 054142

or www.cumnorchoralsociety.wordpress.com

Cumnor Chess Club

Thurs 7–9pm Cumnor Old School. Steven Bennett

862788 www.cumnorchessclub.co.uk

Cumnor & District

Historical Society

Last Monday of the month 7.30-9.00 Cumnor Old

School. 01865 724808

Cumnor Gardening Club

http://cumnorgardens.org.uk/ or phone 01865

721026

Harmony InSpires, Ladies'

Acappella Singing Group

Wed 7.30 at Appleton Village Hall. C. Casson 01235

831352 or harmonyinspires@hotmail.co.uk

Hill End Volunteer Team

Contact: David Millin on david.millin@hill-end.org,

call 863510 or visit www.hillend-oec.co.uk

Lawn Tennis Club, N Hinksey

Family club Email: Tennis@OxfordSportsLTC.org

Let’s Sing! – singing group

Weds 2pm, WOCC, Emily 07969 522368 or email

emformusic@outlook.com

Morris Dancing – Cry Havoc

Barbara Brett 249599 or bag@cryhavoc.org.uk

North Hinksey Preschool

and Childcare clubs

Mon–Fri 7.45am–6.00 pm. Tel 794287 or email

nhps.manager1@gmail.com

N Hinksey Art Group

Weds 10– 12.00 W.I. Hall Christina 07931 707997

N Hinksey Bellringers

Contact: Ray Rook 01865 241451

N Hinksey Conservation

Volun te ers

Meets at weekends Contact Voirrey Carr

07798743121 voirreyc@aol.com

N Hinksey, Friends of

Annual Cricket Match/ Walk. Douglas Bond 791213.

N Hinksey Parish Council

Sharon Henley, clerk@northhinksey-pc.gov.uk

N Hinksey Youth Club

Weds at LM pavilion, Daz: 07791 212866 or F’book

Oxford Flood Alliance

R Thurston 01865 723663 or 07973 292035

Oxford Flower Arranging Club

4th Thursday Cumnor. Dympna Walker: Ox 865259

Oxford Harmony Men's

Acappella singing group

Meets Wednesdays 7.45 pm at Seacourt Hall, Con-

tact pro@oxfordharmony.co.uk

Oxford Otters

Swimming for people with disabilities. Sundays,

twice monthly. Contact: Alan Cusden 723420

Oxford Rugby Club

Boys and girls from 5, kevin.honner@ntlworld.com

Seniors, training etc jbrodley@chandlings.org.uk.

Raleigh Park, Friends of

raleighpark@raleighp ark.o rg.uk

Saturdads at

Botley Bridges

Fun activities and trips for Dads and under 5’s

10 am–noon 1st Sat of month. Tel: 243955

Seacourt Hall Management

Committee

Michael Cockman 07766 317691

michael.cockman@gmail.com.

Shotokan Karate Club

6+ WOCC twice weekly Martyn King 07836 646450

Walking for Health

2nd & 4th Saturdays 9.50 Louie Memorial Field car

park, Arnolds Way. Alan 07941 610913

West Oxford Bowls Club

Contact details on

www.westoxfordbowlsclub.co.uk

West Oxford Taekwon Do

Club

Mon, Thurs 6.30-8pm, MA gym, contact Chris Hall

01865 570291 www.wotkd.co.uk

West Oxford U3A

(Uni of the 3rd Age) http://westoxfordu3a.org.uk/

West Way Day Centre

Mon & Fri 10–3pm, Field House, 07740 611971.

oxfordshirehub@royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk

Women’s Institute (Botley)

Liz Manson, 244175 or

liz.mans o n @virginme d ia .c o m

Weight Watchers

Thursdays 6pm at SS Peter & Paul Church Hall

Banso tel: 07779 253899 bansob@aol.com

ley Baptist Hall

West Way Place

Contact: Rev Kalyan Das

Te l . 0 7 8 4 1 8 6 7 9 6 7

The Rosary Room

Yarnells Hill, Elms Rise

Contact Maria Brown,

Te l : 0 1 8 6 5 2 4 7 9 8 6 .

SS Peter & Paul Church

Hall, West Way, Botley

Contact: 07946 463741 or

osneybenefice@outlook.com.

Women's Institute Hall,

North Hinksey Lane

Contact: Val Warner

Te l . 0 1 8 6 5 2 4 5 2 7 3

Seacourt Hall, West

Way Place, Botley

Contact: Lottie White on 07452 960100,

or email admin@seacourthall.org.uk

Pavilion, Arnold’s Way,

Elms Rise, Botley

Contact: Darren Blase 241254

louiememorialpavilio n @gmail.co m

Oxford Rugby Club,

North Hinksey Village

Contact:. Mary Bagnall

mary.bagnall1@btinternet.com.

North Hinksey & Botley Churches

Times of Services (once resumed) and Contacts

St. Lawrence, Church of England, North Hinksey Lane

1st, 2nd, 4th Sunday, Sung Eucharist 11 .3 0 a.m .

3 rd Sunday, Matins 11.3 0 am

St. Peter and St. Paul, Church of England, West Way

2nd Saturday each Month, 4–6pm Messy Church for children and their carers

1st Sunday of the Month, 9.30am All Age service of Holy Communion

All other Sundays, 9.30am Holy Communion with activities for children

Every Wednesday, 10.30am Holy Communion at Field House

Rev Clare Sykes, Tel. 01865 242345 or revclare@btinternet.com

Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Roman Catholic, Yarn ells H il l

Saturday 6.30 pm. Mass

Sunday 9.15 am Mass

Fr Daniel Lloyd. 07584 323915 dlloyd@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk.

Botley Baptist Church, West Way Place

Sunday Service 10.30 am.

Mid Week House Group 8.00 p.m.

Family Worship Service 5 - 6pm on Saturday

Rev Kalyan Das 07841 867967 www.botleybaptistchurch.org

Calvary Chapel

Sunday services held at Botley School 10.30–12 noon

Pastor Philip Vickery 01865 864498

calvarychapeloxford@yahoo.co.uk;

www.calvarychapeloxford.org.uk

Sprout

June 2021

Still not enough going on for a monthly diary. Let’s hope

there’s more to note next month. Meanwhile, for

help with Covid, see the numbers below.

See North Hinksey Parish Council website for a comprehensive

list of all the local support groups currently in operation, as well

as advice on asking for help and looking to volunteer. It’s at

https://northhinks e y -pc.gov.uk/covid-19-community-hub/ If you

have something to add, please email the website manager

Councillor Lorna Berrett on lberre t t.n h p c @gma il.c o m.

Church contact details on inside back cover

Oxford Hub’s email is: hello@oxfordhub.org

Phone: 07957 105129 (9-5pm Mon-Fri)

Citizens Advice Adviceline on 0300 3309 042

Woodlands Pharmacy: 01865 242649

Lloyds Pharmacy: 01865 247023

Age UK Oxfordshire offers a new telephone support line for

older people. Leave a message on 01865 411288 and they will

call you back.

Nextdoor North Hinksey is a local chatroom full of help and

advice. Anyone already on it can invite you to join (or contact

the Sprout)

Finally, two handy Facebook pages:

The Botley Notice Board (OXON)

and Oxford Covid-19 Mutual Aid group